Reviews

TJR Retro WWE Raw Deal Review 10 Years Later: June 7, 2010 (The Nexus Debuts)

By John Canton • Published 7th June 2020
TJR Wrestling

I was doing my usual thing this morning checking the wrestling news and the social media feeds when I came across this tweet from WWE superstar Wade Barrett, who noted that it was ten years to the day of the debut of The Nexus group. At the time we didn’t know it was coming, nor did we know the name of the group, so it was a big thing.

What I’ve decided to do is go back into my archives and re-post my WWE Raw Deal review from ten years ago to this day. I have wanted to do this for a long time. I was going to do it at the start of the year, then around WrestleMania time and now I feel like it’s a good time to start doing it with The Nexus debuting on Raw.

I also think this is something I can do every week just to see what Raw was like a decade earlier and I’ll add in some updated thoughts in blue font as well. Plus, ten years to the day falls on a Sunday and I’m always needing Sunday content on the site, so this is a nice way to do that. I might as well post the PPV reviews from that era too. None of this stuff can be found on the internet anyway because in 2010 I was at a site called thejohnreport.net and that became tjrwrestling.com, but I lost those sites due to a bad business deal where one day the company I was working with went out of business and I had no warning or any ability to save my work online. The good thing is it’s all saved on files on my laptop (this is my third laptop since 2010 I think), so I’m able to re-post old content. Everything from February 2015 to present day is here on tjrwrestling.net thankfully. I was doing Smackdown reviews as well using the “Talking Smack” name, but I stopped doing those. I’m only going to re-post Raw Deal reviews and the PPV shows.

This episode was from when Raw was a two-hour show, but this was a three-hour episode with a Viewer’s Choice theme where they had fan voting. The one thing that jumps out when I look at my review is that it’s about half the word length of a review that I have done in the last few years. I just didn’t write as much detail back then. I also didn’t do the “Analysis” thing that I do all the time now. When you write these things for so long, the style of the review evolves a lot and that happened to me. Anyway, I apologize for the lack of details in the review at the time and I’ll try to add some context with updated thoughts.

Anyway, this review was written live on Monday, June 7, 2010. I’ll include videos of matches where I can find it, so let’s get to it.

====

WWE Raw Deal Review for June 7, 2010

Live from Miami, Florida this is the Raw Deal.

We start off with Raw GM Bret Hart and Smackdown GM Teddy Long coming out to the ring. Announcers are Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler, so no Matt Striker joining in even though the Smackdown guys are there. Bret welcomes us to the first ever viewer’s choice edition of Raw while plugging the voting on wwe.com. We’ll decide who the opponents will be for the people in the WWE Championship match. Teddy says let’s talk about Randy Orton. And here comes Orton in a sling on his right arm.

(Bret Hart as Raw GM was brief. He was hired for the job one week before this and then fired a few weeks after this. They tried to get him out there as much as they could in 2010, but he wasn’t in this role long. To be honest, if I didn’t read that he was GM in this review I would have forgotten that he was in that role.)

Nice pop for Orton as usual. Orton wants Edge tonight. Edge comes out to say he should get the match so he can finish what he started. The GMs announce since it’s viewers’ choice they’re going to let everybody in the arena decide. It will be either A) a debate, B) a situp contest or C) a one arm match with Edge’s arm tied behind his back. Everybody except Edge loves it. Of course, one arm match wins, so that’s what we get later.

Chris Jericho vs. Big Show match coming up. Choices are:
1) Over the Top Rope Challenge
2) Submission Match
3) Body Slam Challenge

Results and the match coming up next.

(Commercial)

They had Matt Striker announce the results. Winner with 48% is the Body Slam Challenge.

Body Slam Challenge: Big Show vs. Chris Jericho
Jericho worked on Big Show’s right arm to make it harder for Big Show to lift him, I guess. Have to give Miami some props. They’re a hot crowd. Jericho went into the ropes, he caught Jericho in his arms and gave him a bodyslam for a win after 4 minutes.
Winner: Big Show (*)

Post match, Big Show put him in a rear chinlock submission and he was announced as the winner via submission. Then he threw Jericho over the top and won the over the top rope challenge as well. That’s how you use Jericho on a three-hour show? Give that man a storyline, please.

(This sounds absolutely terrible. I have no memory of it, but I hated it probably because I love Jericho.)

Tag Title match, fan vote. Hart Dynasty vs.
A) John and Jey Uso
B) The Dudebusters
C) The Great Khali & Hornswoggle

All three teams cut a promo. I think C’s going to win, sadly. This is Vince McMahon’s dream team. The third team just groaned. I had the same exact reaction.

(Commercial)

They plugged WWE.com where they have high school memories. Thrilling.

Results of the poll: 54% for Khali/Hornswoggle for the win. Usos were second.

(Of course they won. I told you it was Vince’s dream team!)

The Hart Dynasty (DH Smith and Tyson Kidd) vs. The Great Khali & Hornswoggle
Nice new t-shirts for the Hart Dynasty although Natalya fans might be upset since she’s not showing as much cleavage as before. Sorry fellas. Jerry Lawler loves this team of course. Khali did some chops. Khali tagged in Hornswoggle like a dumbass. Horny missed a splash. DH Smith dropkicked Khali and they pinned Hornswoggle. A one minute special.
Winners: The Hart Dynasty (DUD)

(Another match that sounds as awful as it reads. Poor Hart Dynasty having to go through that.)

Post match, the Usos came out. Hart’s cleared them out of the ring.

For some reason, Jerry Lawler left ringside. Is he quitting? Please. Put Regal in that seat.

(I was really tired of Lawler as a babyface announcer. Lawler was at his best as a heel in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. When they made him a face announcer he wasn’t interesting at all.)

Michael Cole busted out the SERIOUS VOICES~! for the Undertaker vegetative state video package.

(Oh the “vegetative state” feud that led to more Undertaker vs. Kane matches on Smackdown. So silly.)

After the break, the cast of the A-Team is going to join us.

(Commercial)

Here’s the cast of the A-Team. It’s Bradley Cooper, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Sharlto Copley (you may know him from District 9). Only Cooper was there. Cooper said the movie comes out on Friday and it would be a great show. Not so far.

Lawler is backstage with BA Barracus (Rampage) and Murdoch (Copley) doing a skit where they are the A-Team. It’s a “comedy” segment. Anyway, somebody stole King’s crown. So off they go to look for it. There are the Bella Twins in bikinis. They are talking to them as the actors, but they act like they are the characters from the movie. Bad segment.

(The Bella Twins appearing in bikinis in backstage segments was a common thing in the guest host era. Truly Hall of Fame talent right here. Yes, I know they would go on to have some solid matches and good careers in WWE. It’s just hard to forget they did very little for a few years.)

Santino vs. Kozlov in a match, arm wrestling contest or dance off.

Hopefully the second and third hours aren’t this bad. This could be a LONG night.

(Commercial)

A friend on twitter, reefer9403, created a twitition on twitter for me to join the Raw creative team. I’ve plugged things like this in the past, so why not now? Here’s the link: http://twitition.com/ys75a Sign it or not. Doesn’t matter. It’s not like it’s going to lead to anything. And I like my current job for the record!

(The link won’t work now, but I figured I would leave this in. I remember it got thousands of people to sign, so that was cool. I have never tried to work for WWE. I don’t think I’d be very good at taking orders and working in that kind of environment. I did like my job in 2010, which was not as a full-time writer because it was more of a hobby at this point. Ten years later, writing about wrestling on TJRWrestling is my full-time job. Thank you for the support!)

Santino vs. Kozlov will be a dance off with 84%. Cole loves it. Santino celebrates.

Santino tells us that before the release of their first album, Santino was Backstreet Boy #6. And there he goes with a ridiculous dance. Ha, he busted out the Carlton from the Fresh Prince. Santino is fantastic. It ended with his Cobra pose. Crowd loved it. “I am more stronger, faster” says Kozlov. Some moonwalk action from Kozlov and some robot dancing. I can’t believe I’m writing about this. Haha. You wouldn’t think Kozlov would be this flexible. “Vintage Kozlov,” says Cole. The crowd liked Santino, but they liked Kozlov more. He wins.
Dance Off Winner: Kozlov

Then they do a silly routine together. I guess this is character development to pair these two together since they are in that potential sitcom WWE is trying to pitch.

(I actually liked the Santino and Kozlov pairing in the long run. They had some good chemistry together, but it was a lot different from when WWE was booking Kozlov as a killer heel.)

The divas are next with these match choices: 6 on 6 tag, diva battle royal or champion vs. champion.

(Commercial)

All 12 divas came out on the stage. And the winner is: Diva Battle Royal at 73%.

Diva Battle Royal
I’d say Kelly looks the best of the bunch. No more skirt for Tiffany. That’s a shame. There goes Rosa first and Tiffany is next. Michelle eliminates Kelly. Nice hurricanrana by Gail that the cameras don’t even catch and she gets eliminated along with Alicia. Both Bellas get eliminated at the same time by Laycool. We’re down to Eve, Michelle, Layla, Maryse and Jillian. Eve chucked Layla into Michelle and both members of Laycool are gone. Wow, Maryse missed a kick on Eve by like a foot. Maryse & Jillian are doubling Eve…I mean in the match you perverts. There goes Eve. Jillian thinks they win together, but Maryse kicks her and chucks her out for the win. The match was about 3 minutes.
Winner: Maryse (1/2*)

(A short match that meant nothing. There was a famous divas battle royal where Gail Kim eliminated herself after she threw Alicia Fox into the turnbuckle and then rolled out of the ring to be eliminated. I looked it up and it was August 1, 2011. Anyway, I have no memories of this match.)

We’re one hour into the show. It was very bad first hour. Obviously they didn’t want to load up on the first hour because the second and third hour is the typical time slot.

The announcers recapped hour one. They loved it. I did not.

(That first hour was awful. I always try to be optimistic, but it’s hard sometimes when the show was as bad as this.)

Backstage, Kane accused Sheamus of taking out Undertaker because he took out Triple H. Sheamus said he doesn’t do sneak attacks; he makes sure everybody is watching. And Kane doesn’t take kindly to liars. Kane hopes to see him real soon.

Sheamus vs. A) Kane, B) Henry, C) Bourne. Up next.

(Commercial)

I would hope that Bourne gets the vote after last week’s performance, but who knows? People like Kane. Hopefully they rig it for Bourne. Kane stares, Henry stares and Bourne smiles like a 12 year old kid. Wow, 88% for Kane. That’s disappointing. Hopefully Bourne is on later.

(I admit that I was dumb thinking it wouldn’t be Kane after WWE did a segment with Sheamus. It’s basically WWE telling you to vote that way.)

Sheamus vs. Kane
It’s the albino wonder vs. the big red monster that likes to investigate things. Nice powerslam by Sheamus early. And we get a commercial two minutes into the match.

(Commercial)

And we’re back with Kane hitting the big boot. Seated dropkick by Kane gets two. The announcers can’t think of anybody leaving Undertaker in that physical condition. I remember it happening all the time through the 90s before the Attitude Era. I also remember Kane lighting a casket on fire that had the Undertaker in it. But that’s my fault for remembering. Anyway, Sheamus fought out of a chokeslam with a knee to the spine. Kane chucked him out to the floor. Back in the ring, chokeslam by Kane. Sheamus rolls out to the floor. And there’s the countout finish. Not a surprise. This is how WWE books a lot of matches lately especially on Smackdown. They don’t want to book a loss, so they book the heel to walk out. The match was 8 minutes, which is like an Ironman on this show.
Winner via Countout: Kane (*)

(Going eight minutes did feel like an Ironman match compared to the other matches. Anyway, the match wasn’t much and my rating is a bit harsh because it was probably a ** match, but that’s not a big deal. The heel walks out on the match is one of the worst finishes that WWE does.)

They summed up the Edge/Orton match that will see Edge with his arm tied behind his back.

John Cena’s match for later: A) Swagger, B) Mysterio, C) CM Punk.

(Commercial)

I miss Shawn Michaels.

(I sure did!)

They plugged the season 2 premiere of NXT and recapped the results of season 1 with the winner Wade Barrett. Savannah, another gorgeous Canadian diva, interviews him. Barrett says next week he’ll accomplish something that’s never been accomplished in the history of WWE. Then he leaves. Okay.

(I had no idea Barrett would be on again later, but he sure was.)

Backstage, Rampage and Copley do a skit with Ted Dibiase (Jr.)/Virgil accusing them of stealing the clown. Ha, it’s IRS walking into the skit. “Uncle Irwin” as Ted called him. He says Lawler never paid his taxes on the crown, so it’s his now. Then a gas attack happens randomly and Copley gets knocked out. Wow, that was brutal. This is supposed to help a movie? Dear God.

(Bad acting and writing. The guest host era in full effect, ladies and gentlemen!)

Raw was good the last three weeks. What the hell happened this week? These A-Team skits have been so bad. As bad as any guest host skits they’ve had. And that includes ZZ Top.

Next up is a tag match. It’s Truth and Christian, MVP or Morrison going up against Miz and Ziggler, Regal or Ryder

(Commercial)

What’s Up time with R-Truth. He raps his way out to the ring. He wants to know who his partner is. The partner is John Morrison with 54% of the vote. Hey, they referenced them teaming together a few months ago. I guess we’re allowed to remember that far back. Good to know. Miz comes out to say he’s going to win tonight and take back his US Title soon. Who is his partner? It’s Ryder with 45%. Ziggler got 38%, so it was close.

R-Truth & John Morrison vs. The Miz & Zack Ryder
The announcers think this show has been great and exciting. That’s why they’re sitting where they are sitting, people. The heels work on Truth, he gets the hot tag about two minutes in. Morrison’s offense is great. Good to see him back in action after being injured. Miz ends up getting the pin on Morrison with the Skull Crushing Finale after some distraction. This was over at about what, four minutes? That’s it? I love matches with hot tags two minutes in.
Winners: The Miz & Zach Ryder (*1/4)

The promos were longer than the match, yet Lawler talked about how there was so much action in the match. No there wasn’t. It was way too short.

(It was a rushed tag team match. The Miz was getting a solid midcard push at this point. He would end up winning Money in the Bank soon after. I don’t remember much about Ryder at this point. He started making some noise about a year later. Morrison was always good, but they just didn’t book him strong enough.)

Backstage, Bret Hart told Edge that he will do the match. Kane walked up to Bret and accused him of attacking Undertaker because he’s jealous of the legend that Undertaker became. And if he finds out that Bret did it he’ll be in a vegetative state too.

(The story was that Kane was accusing him of attacking Undertaker even though it was really Kane that did it.)

Then, in a comical moment to me at least, they plugged a 3 DVD set of the Undertaker’s 21 Deadliest matches. Shouldn’t we be mourning his vegetative state? I’m so torn!

(Hey fans, The Undertaker is in a vegetative state. Go buy the DVD!)

(Commercial)

Did You Know? Last Monday Raw was, once again, the #1 show on all of cable television. It was also a good show, unlike this one.

(Ten years later, Raw is definitely not the number one show on all of cable television. Things change, pal.)

Edge vs. Randy Orton
Randy Orton had his right arm in a sling Edge’s arm is going to be tied behind his back. It’s nearly 10 pm, so this is the top of hour two on this show. About a minute in, Edge ripped the rope off and started putting the boots to Orton. And we have a DQ. About a minute.
Winner: Randy Orton (NR)

Post match, Edge sets him up for the spear. Orton kicks him out of the ring literally. Orton follows him out and Edge hits him in the shoulder with the top of the chair. Conchairto onto the shoulder. Cue the SERIOUS VOICES~! by the announcers.

(I didn’t realize I was doing the SERIOUS VOICES~! thing for over a decade now. I’m proud of myself for doing it at least that long. Anyway, this was just a way to build some heat for their feud.)

We got to vote for “so many great things” tonight. I haven’t seen anything that was great all night. And we get a recap of the voting results, as well as match results. These recaps are almost longer than the actual matches.

Coming up later it’s Cena vs. Swagger, Mysterio or Punk.

(Commercial)

We’re two hours in. If I gave this show a rating it would be 2 out of 10. And that might be generous. Let’s see if hour three can save it.

Back from back, there was a recap of the Orton/Edge angle. It was a good angle to get heat on Edge and make Orton more vulnerable, which is the classic way of booking a babyface.

Backstage, Cena thanked Bourne for being his partner last week. Bourne smiled because that’s all Bourne ever does. Cena said tonight his fate rests on the minds of the WWE Universe. Cena says he feels good because at least he knows he’s not going to have to wait to hear his name being called. He feels DAMN GOOD ABOUT CENATION YADDA YADDA VOICE GETS LOUD and stuff, then he got quiet again.

(I was a big fan of Evan Bourne and always hoped that they would push him more than they did. He really never made it that far up the food chain, so to speak.)

Hey, Mean Gene talks to the A-Team guy! And “Agent Murdoch” wakes up from the gas crap. I wish I could wake up from it. Gene rips on Josh Matthews, calling him horrible. I love Mean Gene. He tells the actor that he’s got a movie that can blow the TV show out of the water. And the guy thanks him. Ha, Gene called Mathews a loser. So far Mean Gene is the star of the night although the A-Team segments continue to suck.

(I have no memories of this at all, but what I wrote about loving Mean Gene is definitely true. May he rest in peace!)

Next up it’s Drew McIntyre vs. Goldust, Yoshi Tatsu or a mystery person. It’s Matt Hardy.

(Commercial)

Drew McIntyre’s opponent is the mystery man. He got 88%. It’s Matt Hardy. McIntyre says Hardy’s suspended. Teddy comes out. He says Hardy was suspended from Smackdown, but not Raw. I guess that works.

Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre
Hardy attacks him on the floor. Back in the ring, Drew boots him in the face. He charges in, misses a shoulder tackle and Matt hits a Twist of Fate on him. Match over in 2 minutes.
Winner: Matt Hardy (1/2*)

Post match, Hardy pulled some of his hair. Finally, Matt gets some vengeance. But does he really since it was Raw and not on Smackdown? Sorry for asking questions.

(I don’t really remember the rivalry that well. It’s just another very short match on this show.)

Backstage, Dibiase, Virgil and IRS have Rampage locked to a chair backstage. They’re headed to the ring.

(Commercial)

The trio of Ted Dibiase (that’s Jr. again), IRS and Virgil had Rampage in the ring. Cole says it’s “Breaking News” that Rampage is being held hostage by Dibiase, IRS and Virgil. Maybe Ted is jealous that people will actually see this movie unlike his. And somebody needed a favor, which is why Dibiase did this. Who is that person? Roddy Piper. Get it? Because Piper feuded with Mr. T over 25 years ago. See, we’re supposed to think of him as the movie character, not Rampage Jackson. Roddy Piper’s here to silence him just like he silenced Mr. T back in the day. Piper just said he’s not seeing the A-Team. Maybe he watched the skits on this show? “Every time you think you’ve got all the answers, I change the questions.” That’s a classic Piper line. Then he busts out “I pity the fool” like Mr. T. And here’s the A-Team music with Dusty Rhodes, Gene Okerlund and Copley. Rampage broke free from the handcuffs. Rampage with a spinebuster on Dibiase. Rampage would make a great pro wrestler. Rhodes with the elbow on IRS. And there’s a spinebuster by Rampage on Virgil. Gene says congrats to the A-Team. The Copley dude says thanks to Gene for teaching him how to live the dream, so he called the American Dream on his phone to help him live the dream. Dusty plugged the movie.

Wow. What a storyline. Somebody got paid to think of this angle that spanned the whole show.

(Another segment that sounds absolutely terrible and I have no memory of this. What I said about Rampage Jackson as a pro wrestler is true, though, because he had the look and the promo ability to do it, but he never pursued it. Using the legends in a segment like this is a way to get the crowd to care more, but it doesn’t sound very entertaining to me.)

And where was Bradley Cooper the rest of the night? He came out, talked for like 30 seconds and was never seen again. The promotion of this movie was not good. I’ll probably see it eventually, but what they did on this show did more harm than good.

(I did see it eventually on cable and it was terrible. I remember the A-Team TV show as a kid a bit. The movie was crap.)

Can we just end the guest hosts please?

(They were so bad for the most part and it lasted for well over a year. There were maybe 5-10 that were good and so many were terrible.)

Vote for the Cena match right now: Swagger, Mysterio or Punk.

(Commercial)

Actor Mark Feuerstein is the host next week. He’s got some show on USA that Big Show is going to guest on. Lawler & Cole think the show has been fantastic tonight. And I thought I was a kiss ass to people.

(I’m really not a kiss ass to people…unless they’re rich. Thanks for inspiring me, Triple H.)

Backstage, Josh interviews Rey, Swagger and Punk. Rey says he’s the man on Smackdown. Swagger says it would be champ vs. champ. Punk says he can make Cena a better person.

The voting results sees Punk with 45%, Mysterio was second and Swagger was third. That’s pretty surprising that it wasn’t Rey. Not that I’m complaining. I like Punk, of course.

(It was a bit of a surprise that Rey wouldn’t win since he was a face. Punk was one of the best heels in the company, though, so fans wanted to see him against Cena.)

John Cena vs. CM Punk
If you don’t watch Smackdown (shame on you), CM Punk’s been wearing a black mask on his face to hide his shaved head. Ugh, now the announcers are saying CeNation a bunch. What an annoying term. There’s a small “you can’t wrestle” chant for Cena that we never seem to hear anymore. Lawler suggests that Punk looks ugly under the mask. So having a shaved head is ugly apparently? I guess if you’re a heel. Cena’s in control, but then he runs the ropes right in front of Luke Gallows, which of course leads to him getting tripped up. And off we go for the last commercial.

(Commercial)

Cena comes back from the break in control hitting a vintage move according to Cole. And here are the rookies of NXT just as Cena’s about to finish Punk off. I guess the match is done since the NXT guys beat up Punk and Gallows. The match ended at about 12 minutes.
Winner: No Winner Due to Interference (**)

(The rating is probably too low for a Cena and Punk match. I just re-watched it and I’d probably go **1/2 for it, but I think I was so bored by this show at this point that it was hard to impress me.)

The eight NXT guys start beating on Cena. At first it was Barrett alone on the ramp, which made me think he was gonna challenge Cena. The NXT guys beat up the announcers including Lawler, Striker and Cole. This is awesome. They even beat up the timekeeper and Justin Roberts. Daniel Bryan choked out Roberts with his own tie. (That ended up being very memorable!) The NXT boys started beating up everything around the ring and they beat up the setup around the ring. I love how nobody in WWE comes out to help Cena. Even the ring ropes took a beating here. Otunga with a spinebuster on Cena. Punk got back up and fought back, but they beat him down too. Danielson vs. Punk please. (It would happen thankfully and as you can see I was still writing Danielson at times.) There was still no sign of any other wrestlers trying to help. That’s how beloved Cena is I guess. Hard clothesline by Sheffield. (That was Ryback’s name at the time – Skip Sheffield.) Bryan yelling at Cena: “You are not better than me.” And a stiff kick to the head. That’s great. (There was also a spit in the face by Bryan that management did not like.) The crowd’s chanting “You Suck” now. It’s going a bit long, but the crowd is hating these guys big time. Barrett hit his shoulder slam. Then Gabriel hit his awesome looking 450 Splash off the top rope. Cena is so beat up he might actually limp for 3 seconds next week to sell the beating. Nah, he probably won’t.

The show ends with all the NXT guys walking out of the ring while Cena lays face down in a broken down ring. Then we get shots of all the announcers laid out around ringside. They brought out a stretcher for Cena as they showed the faces of concerned fans around ringside. Again, nobody on the roster cares to help the guy? I know, I ask questions that are logical and I shouldn’t, but they should have brought somebody like Rey out to take a beating just to prove how dominant the NXT guys were.

How many times has Cena done the stretcher job? Doesn’t happen much. They really put over the NXT guys with that. It’s not enough to save the show, but it makes you curious as to what’s coming next week. And that’s a good way to end it. Too bad the other 2 hours and 45 minutes were painful for a lot of the time.

(It was an amazing angle to end the show. I’m glad I wrote “this is awesome” as it was happening because it was a fresh angle that Raw needed badly. Daniel Bryan ended up getting fired for two months after this due to choking Roberts with the tie and spitting on Cena’s face. As Bryan has said in interviews and in his book, he was just told to be aggressive around ringside, but they weren’t specifically told about things that would get them in trouble. I was so excited to see Bryan on Raw. The other guys were cool with me like Barrett and Gabriel. I did watch the NXT show featuring all of them although aside from Barrett, Bryan and Gabriel I wasn’t that interested in all of them. However, putting them together as an eight-man team that would be called “The Nexus” was a very smart move because it allowed them to dominate the show at least for a few months. This was a very memorable moment that would dominate the storyline on Raw over the next six months or so. The point I made about nobody trying to help Cena is because you would think the top face in the company would have friends that cared about a beating that lasted over ten minutes, but nobody cared. It was booked this way to shine the spotlight on The Nexus group and tell the story that they were unstoppable.)

Three Stars of the Show
1. Daniel Bryan: “You are not better than me” to Cena
2. Mean Gene
3. Kozlov’s dancing

(What a list of three stars. I was so happy to see Bryan on Raw and when he said that to Cena, I marked out huge. I’m sure a lot of fans did. I’m not a Cena hater, but Bryan was one of the best wrestlers in the world for ten years before he got to WWE, so to see him in the ring with Cena like that was such a cool thing. Mean Gene was hilarious and then Kozlov’s dancing was the other standout.)

Show Rating: 3 out of 10
Last week: 8

My scores for the last three Raw’s were 7.5, 7 and 8. Big step back this week. Usually three hour shows mean longer matches that make it a better show. This week? They wanted to get as many people on the show as they possibly could and they didn’t care to put on decent matches. The result was a show full of bad skits, no matches that were memorable (the main event was pretty good) and they still haven’t promoted much for the Fatal Fourway PPV aside from the main event.

What I liked was how they furthered the Edge/Orton storyline by making Orton more of a sympathetic figure, which will help his face run. Edge is a great dirtbag, so he’s the right guy for Orton to be against. That was the best angle progression on the show.

It was a different ending to the show. I’m not sure where it’s headed, but it looks as though the NXT guys will be making a strong impact going forward. That’s a good thing. As long as it means more Daniel Bryan, of course. I think I liked the announcers getting beat up the best of anything.

If I never see the Viewer’s Choice concept again I’d be happy. Or if it happens again, maybe they’d book it in a better way. This show was a mess, though.

(I think the 3 out of 10 score is justified because of how bad most of the show. I’m a little nicer now than I was then, so maybe I’d go with a 4 if this was in 2020. It just shows how poor of a show it was at the time. I always say years like 2009 and 2010 weren’t great overall on the Raw brand while Smackdown was a bit better.)

===

That’s all for this Retro Raw Deal review looking at when The Nexus showed up. I had a lot of fun doing this, I was able to re-watch most of the show while I wrote this and I think this is something I can do every weekend leading to a post on Sunday. The next PPV on the schedule was Fatal 4-Way 2010 so I can post that on June 20 as well. Next Sunday is the June 14 edition of Raw. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading.